Fall2012
Throughout the history of Latin America, the ideal Latin American has shifted and changed. From period to period, heroes and everyday citizens have embodied different ideals. Perceptions of the 'perfect man' or 'perfect woman' shift with the values of the time. Heroes of each period embodied some values while shirking others for the greater good of Latin America as a whole. On this Wiki page we will be focusing on these cultural and social changes in this region. We will be answering the question: What are the ideal characteristics of a Latin American and how have perceptions changed over time? The Encounter At the time of the European conquest of the Americas, there was no unified sense of Latin American identity. What existed there was a clash of very different cultures—the Iberian and the indigenous. Thus, the ideal characteristics of a man or woman varied depending on the culture to which an individual belonged. From the European perspective, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés could be seen as the model to be emulated. Cortés overthrew the Aztec empire by creating alliances with other tribes and capturing the emperor Moctezuma. The Spaniards' superior weapons technology would have been viewed as military strength by the Europeans. The strength, diplomacy, and courage that the Europeans believed Cortés possessed paints a clear picture of the ideal European man at the time. Additionally, successful conquistadors were given encomiendas by the Spanish crown. They received large plots of land to manage and were "entrusted" with indigenous people for workers. The fact that the encomiendas were given as rewards shows that leadership ability was also highly valued in European men. In order to use the indigenous people for labor, the encomenderos were responsible for converting them to Christianity. Religiously, the ideal European of the time was a devout Christian. Christianity was of great importance to the Europeans because it could be used to justify the conquest of indigenous groups. Colonial Crucible The three century epoch following the conquest of Latin America is prodigiously characterized as a period of hegemonic rule, which in effect tiggered the phenomena of transculturation . Religious hegemony, specifically within religion, was the primary weapon of choice during colonization. This idea largely took shape in the form of patriarchy. Colonization was a social, cultural, and psychological change that all Latin Americans had to endure through transculturation. Yet, transculturation was also a curse in affinity to its advantages bestowed on the Latin American people by their European rulers. Independence During the early 1800s Latin America underwent major political, social and economic changes. Clearly, the desire to be free of European constraint was growing. Those men who stand out in history are the ones with enough bravery, charisma and machismo to lead others in revolt. Men from this time period such as Father Miguel Hidalgo, Agustín de Iturbide and Simón Bolívar, among others, are viewed today as ideal Latin Americans, because they possessed characteristics of a strong leader. Postcolonial Blues After gaining independence, many Latin American people turned their attention to the search for liberty and equality. There were high hopes for true democracy and new governments, but in the end, constitution after constitution and fight after fight dominated the countries of Latin America. The newly made governments remained very unstable during this time. Many people wondered how much trust to place in their new governing bodies, because it had taken so much time for even the king to gain loyalty. The stratification of the Latin American people based on their political views led to the beginning of liberal and conservative political parties. While many Latin Americans started out this time period calling for a liberalized government, soon many had fallen back into the conservative group due to the allure of traditional values. Progress Between 1850 and 1890, Latin America gained substantial progress. This period was heavily influenced by the struggles between Conservatives and Liberals. Liberal families tended to move around a lot while Conservatives were often more stationary with a long lasting family status. Conservatives often tried to fight the changes of progress but in the end lost. During this time of progress, a heavy European influence was seen. With it brought modern amenities such as electricity, railroads, and telegraphs. Railroads were a key symbol in Latin America's progress. Latin Americans were connected to parts of the country that had not been accessible to them before. While this seems great, it also brought with it even more dependency on other countries, particularly in Europe. In this time we start to see very apparent class struggles, and the wealth gap between the two. The ideal Latin American in this time would accept the European influence, but would hold true to their Latin American roots. Along with rapidly changing environments, we see a change within the ideals and morals of the people. Once a strong power within Latin America, the Catholic Church was now being attacked because of its broad misuse of power and money. The common people who mostly practiced liberalism felt that the Church was robbing them of land, money, and time. They were not anti-religious just against the clergy of the Church, a common trend between all countries at this time. Unfortunately for the majority of the people, the leaders who were ruling were conservative and believed that the Church should have the most power, no matter the consequence for the poor. Within Mexico an influential leader Benito Juárez passed the Lerdo Law, which attacked the Catholic Church's abuse power and forced it to give back land. The poor were then given a piece of land to use, all from the Church. While it sounded good in theory, the practice of people owning their individual land plots instead of a communal land holding system would eventually fail. A majority of the indigenous believed that the land worked better communally, so they went against this land reform. This time of "progress" was one where Latin America had to figure out how to better itself as a civilization, even if it had to fight many different battles, with temporary results. From this one thing can be said of an ideal Latin American, they were persistent in the time of progress, and passionate. Both of these qualities were needed, because if they didn't have them, then this fast moving time period would have killed them. Neocolonialism The Neocolonial period saw the United Kingdom, and eventually the United States, rise as hegemons in Latin America. The United States was a big influence on both trade and politics in Latin America. Under this heavy-handed influence, Latin Americans felt that the United States did not have their best interests at heart, despite claims otherwise. However, Latin America during this period also found itself to be dependent on foreign countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., due to its heavy export economy. Between these factors, Latin Americans began to resent imperialistic nations and their perceived domination. Due to this, the ideal Latin American remained much the same, but the values that Latin Americans appreciated shifted, and Latin Americans began to support those who fit Latin American ideals, rather than U.S. or European ideals. This led to a new surge of popular mestizo individuals, as well as resounding support for those who spoke out against foreign interference in Latin America. A prime example of an ideal Latin American during this period was Augusto César Sandino. A revolution fighter in a Nicaraguan civil war known as the Constitutionalist War, Sandino assembled a personal army and utilized guerilla tactics. After the Constitutionalist War came to a ceasefire following American pressure, Sandino continued to fight the United States Marines in Nicaragua, objecting to U.S. meddling in Latin American affairs and fighting for all of Latin America. The Marines were ultimately unable to capture or stop Sandino and had to withdraw to the United States due to domestic affairs, and Sandino emerged triumphant. Augusto César Sandino was a hero to all Latin Americans for standing up to the oppressive United States, and his ideals and legacy embody the ideal Latin American of the neocolonial period. Nationalism Nationalism, put simply, is a movement in which people of a country band together for the further advancement of the nation as a whole, and don't focus on each person on an individual basis. "For nations to be united internally, they have to know who they are; they need a clear and positive sense of national identity" (Chasteen 217). The nationalist movement in Latin America stemmed from the disagreements between the Creoles and the Peninsulares. Most of the new nationalists were middle-class, mestizo people, as well as some people of much higher or lower socioeconomic statuses as well. Nationalist supporters ranged everywhere from the lowest class, full of mestizo people to the very highest class people such as Vargas. All of these people were brought together to stand against imperialism and the foreign influence in Latin America which manifested through economic and military presence. Although these groups were present and numerous problems were raised, the inevitable shift to nationalism was seen differently in many Latin American countries. Revolution The revolutionary time period in Latin America saw huge changes in the perception of what made an ideal Latin American. Everyday Latin Americans elected officials who embodied nationalist ideals, such as Jacobo Árbenz. They revered populist President Juan Perón and his wife Evita. To them, the ideal Latin American did not revolt and did not use violence to achieve their ideals. Revolutionaries, however, looked up to heroes like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Tania. To them, those that did not revolt were less than ideal. They saw the way the poor people of the region were living and decided that anyone who could see their lives and not be motivated to action was not a true Latin American. Latin Americans were those who fought for decent standards of living for all. In this section we will discuss what made an ideal Latin American during the revolutionary period of Latin American history and analyze what made this ideal person different from the ideal people of other periods in history. There were many revolutionaries in Latin American History who took different approaches to achieve their goals and the goals they deemed necessary for the people. One of the most common themes is the representation of the masses. Many Latin American revolutionaries, which we read about today, had agendas that attended to more than their small group of people. From different nations, spread across thousands of miles of land, we see many similarities that make these ideal men national folk heroes. People like Toussaint Loouverture and Father Hidalgo are ideal, heroic men who achieved their goals by helping to change the hearts and minds of those who needed it the most. They set the stage for modern revolutionists and offered them a platform to base their ideals. Men like Hugo Chávez, who are cultured and have been baptized in the culture of heroic revolutionists, have gained the love of their people and helped bring change just as their predecessors. Reaction The reactionary period in Latin America was very bloody. Countries prone to revolution, and others which were relatively docile, were quickly taken over by military control to prevent any sort of communist revolution. The United States played a large part in military coups in these countries. U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in 1961, announced the "Alliance for Progress" which was meant to relieve some of the revolutionary pressures in Latin American countries. To achieve the goals of the plan, the U.S. would supply foreign aid to countries that showed signs of revolutionary tendencies, in an attempt to increase the standard of living and ease tensions of the working class. These countries include Brazil, Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. The Alliance for Progress was a reaction to the Cuban Revolution, but ultimately it lost momentum, because the costs amounted to much more than supplying guns and counterinsurgency training. Various Latin American generals saw communism as an inevitable change if nothing was actively done to prevent it. These generals began hunting down "internal enemies": anyone that could present a threat to their rule. Neoliberalism With both the revolution and reaction time periods over, Latin America was left with a high death count that was largely blamed on nationalism. This gave rise to neoliberalism in popularity during the 1990s. Neoliberalism was largely based on the United States' ideas of free trade, exports, and comparative advantage. Because free market was encouraged, state-run programs were immediately ended. Programs which once helped the poor buy affordable food and other public services were never to be seen again. Latin America also began importing American products and technology for low prices. These American products ended up only being used by the middle class and rich since they were, once again, the only groups that benefited during this time period.